Welcome to Real Debate Wisconsin (RDW). This is primarily a conservative blog but we always welcome input from all points of view. Things get heated upon occasion but we ask that our readers do their best to keep things civil and respect all participants. We always welcome guest posts, so if there is something you would like to share feel free to email me at fkd1015 at yahoo dot com.

March 8, 2008

Next Sunday the 16th of March there will be a fund raiser for the final push of the Kathy Carpenter for Alderman effort in Kenosha.

The event will be held at The Fireside Restaurant and Lounge, 2801 30th Ave., Kenosha, WI 53144 from 4 pm until around 8 pm.

Kenosha is easy folks, Streets run east/west, Avenues run north/south. If you need a map, click this. Suggested donation is $25, but if you have really deep pockets I am sure they will take more.

Mrs RDW & I will be in attendance.

We all need to step up and help those brave enough to face the daunting task of running for office to serve our communities. It is more work than you could possibly imagine all for a part time job that pays next to nothing and has lots of responsibility.

Kathy is a great person, a hard worker and is dedicated to the Kenosha community. She has served behind the scenes for years and now it is the time for us to step up and say thank you to her for her efforts.

If you can not attend the event, please consider sending Kathy a donation. Campaign limits for this race are $250.00 from individuals and $200.00 from PACS. Send checks to Friends of Kathy Carpenter, 706 School St., Silver Lake, WI 53170. Kathy also has a PayPal widget on her website.

Kathy also needs volunteers for lit drops on the 23rd & 30th of March. If you can help, please call 262-960-1852.

I must admit to almost laughing every time I hear Democrats repeat the slogan, “Count every vote.” It should be a given, but now that they’ve thrown the proverbial monkey wrench into their own machinery, it’s kind of amusing to watch.

Remember back in 2000? The Democrats accused Republicans of stealing the presidential elections for not wanting repeated recounts using ballots that were deteriorating by the touch. Let’s not forget, those same Democrats so poorly designed those “butterfly” ballots, that voters ended up becoming “confused” and cast for the wrong candidates. What was humorous was the fact that the same ballot was presented to elementary schoolers as an experiment, and they had no trouble at all voting for whom they wanted.

Allegations flew, numerous investigations were made, and the stolen election conspiracy was deemed false, although the accusation is still repeated to this day. Also curious is how few people mention that voting problems almost always seem to happen in Democrat districts, under Democrat handling. How a Republican could just walk in and successfully perform some kind of mischief is beyond me.

But the slogan remains, “Count every vote.”

Last year in an effort to achieve some electoral relevance, Michigan and Florida decided to change the dates of their primaries, against the protestations of Howard Dean and the party brains. As punishment, those two states were stripped of their delegates, and the candidates declined to campaign there.

“In a bid to respect the party's decision and maintain support in Iowa and New Hampshire, Democratic candidates including Ms. Clinton agreed not to campaign in Florida or Michigan.

“The major Democratic candidates -- with the exception of Ms. Clinton -- went so far as to have their names taken off the ballot entirely in Michigan.

“Ms. Clinton has subsequently, however, touted her victories in both states as legitimate.

She won 50% of the vote in Florida's Jan. 29 primary, compared with 33% for Mr. Obama. The former first lady won 55% in Michigan's Jan. 15 vote, while 40% of the votes were for "Uncommitted."

So now that the race has become a bit more competitive, complete with perceived momentum shifts, the Clinton campaign is arguing that those votes be counted (or cast again), while Barack Obama and the other candidates who were alive at the time and played by the rules, don’t want them tallied.

A bit of a quandary, if you ask me.

If, by the time the DNC Convention comes around and the Hillary-Obama race is still close, the disqualified delegates could make the difference in one campaign’s victory and the other’s defeat. Is it fair to change the rules half way into the game? In most cases, not. However, we are talking about the Clintons, of which no rule applies.

It’s obvious Hillary screwed the other candidates by leaving her name on a ballot when the others observed the Party dictates. It’s obvious she’ll have no problem using the Michigan-Florida excuse to change super delegate opinion, claiming she won the overall popular vote and those supers should bolster the desires of their constituency.

It’s suspected such a ploy conducted during the Convention could “tear the party apart.” Oh well…. Hypocrisy has a way of rearing its ugly head when least desired.

The Democrat Party leadership should have considered this situation when they decided to strip the delegates from Florida and Michigan. Obviously, the Clinton campaign did. All the subsequent options being floated around are not pretty. One is re-voting in those states, or reconvening caucuses. Both will cost money; money the DNC will not cover. If for some reason they do re-vote, the Obama camp will scream “foul”. If they don’t re-vote, the Clinton lawyers will be ready at convention time.

Either way, the voters of Michigan and Florida were screwed. Screwed by the very people who instruct all of us what our civic responsibilities are, and are the first to chastise anyone who play games with those responsibilities.

“Count every vote.”

That should be a given. However, nothing’s a given when the Clintons are involved. Little is done with competence when Democrats are involved, after all, you seldom see Republican polling places being kept open after the set time (by last-minute court order) because they didn’t have enough ballots, or the weather was bad, or any number of lame excuses. Democrats are usually the ones who are incapable of counting every vote.

2000 was a mess, 2004 was a mess, and in the proud recent tradition of Democrat Party, 2008 is already at that stage, and we’re a long way from November.

March 6, 2008

BORDEAUX, France (Reuters) - The mayor of a village in southwest France has threatened residents with severe punishment if they die, because there is no room left in the overcrowded cemetery to bury them. In an ordinance posted in the council offices, Mayor Gerard Lalanne told the 260 residents of the village of Sarpourenx that "all persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried in Sarpourenx are forbidden from dying in the parish."

It added: "Offenders will be severely punished."Say it with me now, how do you severely punish a dead person?

After news of the New York recruitment office bombing today those 10 words have been bouncing around in my head non stop.

I'll say again the same thing I said after the cowardly vandals attacked the east side recruitment center last year. The vast majority of leftists would NEVER condone such an act. Some would though, some would.

There is of course no proof yet on who did this cowardly act. But I think we can all take a very wise educated guess as to what we will eventually learn...

When we find out who did this I suggest we paint I hate Muhamed all over them and drop them in Syria.

GWC flailing to distract voters from Butler’s record; Butler votes handcuff law enforcement[Burnett County, Wisc….] The Gableman for Supreme Court campaign today released the entire list of Judge Gableman’s cases that have been appealed, which demonstrate the Greater Wisconsin Committee’s (GWC) ad “Bottom” to be patently false.

The new GWC television ad states, “And Gableman’s decisions are ruled incorrect and overturned by higher courts about 1/3 of the time.”

Judge Gableman has been reversed 6 times in 23,544 cases (.02%). Even of the 44 appealed cases, 77% of them have been affirmed and only 13% have been reversed – not 33% as the GWC falsely claims.

The GWC is a sham and they represent the worst practices of politics. Frankly I think people should turn out in HUGE numbers and show these hyper partisans who play very dishonestly how little we care for their brand of politics.

March 3, 2008

There is a bill sitting on Governor Doyle's desk awaiting signature that you have likely never heard of, 2007 AB 580.

Here is what it does.

Under current law if you disagree with your property tax assessment you have the right to a hearing in front of a local board on that issue. If you disagree with the ruling of that board you have the right to appeal to the Circuit Court.

Under the current situation people had a nasty habit of winning those appeals at the Circuit Court level. Well, the assessors got together and lobbied the legislature for changes to the current system and AB 580 was passed by a vote of 94 to 3 in the Assembly and 32 to 1 in the Senate.

Huge kudos to Senator Lazich, and Assemblymen Schneider and Albers for voting no on this (Gundrum and A.Williams no-voted the bill). Every other member of the Assembly and Senate voted in favor of the assessors and against home owners. You were probably asleep as this was one of those 12:46 am passed in the middle of the night laws that everyone misses.

And now the bad news...

Under AB 580 the review board must now grant a 60-day extension to the tax payers objection. The board also gets to assess a new snappy $100 fee to that rabble rousing tax payer (assuming the municipality allows the extension). A hundred bucks for disagreeing with the assessor, isn't that special!

Under the new bill the court is forced to make the assumption that the valuation by the assessor is correct.

You read that correctly, the court is forced by AB 580 to assume the assessor is correct. So much for the opportunity for a fair hearing in the Circuit Court. Our state government has legislated that the court favor the assessor.

The court finding may be "rebutted by a sufficient showing by the taxpayer that the valuation isincorrect."

In short you do not go into court on an equal playing field, the assessment is assumed correct. So much for your fair day in court.

Check out this story. An assessor in West Virginia increases the assessment on a property by a 1,531% increase after the owner refused to sell said property to the assessor.

Remember our report about my Racine assessment going up $10,000 year over year in a down market? That assessment had no basis in fact to the actual market.

Assessors are under huge pressure to increase property valuations so communities can draw in more tax revenue from those properties. Home owners always had their day in court. If the Governor signs this bill those home owners will enter any court appeal (after having paid a $100 fine) with the presumption that they are wrong hanging around their neck as a direct edict from the Wisconsin Legislature.

Democrats and Republicans banded together to pass this bad legislation.

Our only hope to stop this is the veto pen of Governor Jim Doyle. I encourage you to reach out to the Governor and ask him to please veto AB 580.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Proposals for a taxpayer-funded government intervention in the U.S. housing market would essentially reward people for taking excessive risks, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Monday. "Most of the proposals I've seen would do more harm than good -- bailing out investors, lenders or speculators who, instead of getting a free pass, should be accountable for the risks they took," Paulson said in remarks prepared for delivery at an economic policy conference.